Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Disney, least of all Zootopia (yet)


Time is a concept that even after all these years surprises us in unexpected ways.

It slows for those who wish it go by faster and it speeds away for those who desperately try to hold on to it.

Even though that seems to be unfair, Time is the one thing always pushes us forward no matter how hard we try to stay in the present.

And in the end we should be thankful for this.

A whole new Horizon

Time had passed unbeknownst to the passengers of the STS Prometheus. In fact it was on this day that the ship had reached its destination and after 522 years of cryosleep it would now finally be time for them to awaken once more. The ship finally reached the planet CB-142-D and had maneuvered itself into a stable orbit, it was time, and the machinery inside the ships belly whirred to life. After being in cryonic slumber for more than 500 years it was now that the mammals of the crew were reawakened one by one.

Judy was wondering what being frozen would feel like, there was a strange hissing noise.

Was this going to be it?

Would she be frozen now?

Judy looked at the front of the cryopod and saw the female cheetah work on the cryopod. And the cryopod opened once more.

"Is something wrong?" Judy asked somewhat disappointed.

After all if her cryopod was not working now then what would happen during the 500 years that she was frozen.

The cheetah smiled,"we won't know until after I thoroughly check you."

Judy furrowed her brows,"why me? Isn't it the machine that is not working?"
A hearty laugh was the only reply that she got from the cheetah, which annoyed her so much that she tried to get out and maybe even leave the ship.

Where if this mammal was responsible for waking her up as well then she would rather not take that chance.

And so she jumped out, when Judy's paws hit the ground though she felt as if her legs were made out of jello. It was so bad that she fell, only to be caught by the cheetah before her.

The same cheetah who was still laughing,"Sorry...pfff.." She recovered though and continued in a more serious tone. "It is just that your reaction was so adorable that I could not help myself."

This only served to agitate Judy even more,"what do you mean adorable? And what happened to my legs?" She asked accusingly, before muttering under her breath. "It has only been two minutes. Who can tell what would happen in 500 years, maybe I should just leave?"

Due to the close proximity between the two the cheetah was easily able to hear this which caused her to chuckle once more.

"You might be a little bit late in making that decision, just a teeny tiny bit." She added the last thing while holding her claws together so that they made a really small space between them.

Judy rolled her eyes,"Who would stop me, you?"

This caused the cheetah to chuckle once more and Judy wondered what was so damn funny.

"I probably should have started with this. Congratulations Miss Hopps, you made it."

The cheetah reached out one arm and gestured towards a window that was in the wall before them.

When Judy started looking around she realized that she wasn't even in the same room as before.

But what was even more important than that was the fact that behind the window laid the most beautiful thing that she had ever seen.

Before her laid a purple and rust colored planet with specks on green on it.

"We have arrived." Judy said breathlessly.

The cheetah nodded,"welcome to our new world, my dear."

The checkup went without any issue and after resting for twenty minutes Judy felt as good as new.

Next up on the schedule was the speech of Miss Schnee.

During this speech Judy was not really listening though, her eyes as well as her mind were focused on the whole new world that was spread out below her.

This beautiful orb that would be her home for the rest of her life.

She had always tried to imagine what an entirely new planet would look like, naturally she had based her ideas off of earth. But now she was not so sure if this world could be similar in any way.

Earth was so green when you were looking at it from outer space.

What kind of plant could be purple?

Were there even plants on this planet?

Would the seeds that they had on the ship even grow here?

Would she have to cultivate new plants from this planet to feed their small civilization?

She knew that all of her questions would be answered soon and it filled her with anxiety as well as determination.

Hours passed and the passengers of the STS Prometheus were herded into smaller shuttles which would take them to the surface of the planet where the first landing troops had already secured the designated landing zones.

And so it just so happened that Judy found herself to be next to Jack once more.

The young buck seemed about as anxious and about as exited as she was. At least if his nervous thumping was any indicator to go by.

Judy actually found that rather funny until she realized that she was also thumping away nervously when the ship entered the planets atmosphere.

Once they had reached the planet though things got even more interesting.

The planets surface was indeed much akin to that of earth and the air was indeed breathable.

A major difference between the old world and the new one were the fauna and flora though. Giant leathery bird creatures were soaring through the sky and pink moss like plants made up most of the floor in the area that they had landed in.

And while the soldiers at the scene were busy observing the giant flying creatures in order to make sure that they had no chance to attack any of the settlers, it was now time for said settlers to start building up their settlement.

Giant machines carried precreated modules which were designed to fit together in a block like system. This was done by construction workers while the rest of the population, Judy included, were sent to their designated areas to find their new living quarters.

It took about a day until the small city was built and everyone had settled in.

There was actually nothing to do on this first day for Judy as designated farming areas had yet to be created.

So here she was, sitting in her room her gaze fixated on the glorious spectacle that was sundown in this world.

It was so beautiful, so familiar and strange at the same time that it made the new world before her even more surreal. She just stared at the sun until it was gone and waited for the stars.

Stars which looked so familiar and once more so different at the same time.

She was surprised to find out that there were two moons at night, one big and one small which painted the scenery from before in a ghostly blue light.

In the end she fell asleep in front of the window, but it did not matter, there was so much left to see and this was only the beginning.


A few months later

Judy had just finished watering the plants in the greenhouses when Jack rounded the corner and they bumped into one another which made him drop some of the boxes that he was holding.

"Uh...hey Judy, sorry I didn't see you there." He said sheepishly.

Judy smiled,"its okay, don't worry about it. I am just as much at fault as you were."

This made Jack smile as well,"you finished watering the plants as well?"

Judy just nodded in reply and he went on,"lucky you, I still got hopper duty. And I still need to harvest some of the other insects as well."

This time Judy could not help herself she just had to place a little verbal jab. "Well Jacky boy you shouldn't have lost that bet then."

His ears dropped immediately,"come on Judy, be merciful and let me do some plant work as well. I am begging you!"

He looked at her with big watery eyes in that dorky way that made him look like a little kit. But Judy would not fall for that,"if I had lost the bet then it would be the other way around now. Wouldn't it?"

"But, I would have showed mercy if you asked me! Come on, where is the solidarity between rabbits?", he asked and she was almost sure that if this dragged on that he would really drop to his knees and actually beg. Which was something that she definitely wanted to avoid.

So she ignored his question and pressed on with a smile,"come on Jack. You are a strong young buck that wouldn't get scared from touching some bugs. Besides it is only for two more months and then we go back to shared duty."

And with that she passed him and made her way back towards her room while he started picking up his boxes.

Work was still really easy for Judy since most of the farm was still under construction.

That being said though it was certainly not easy either. The plants would not grow on the soil that this new world presented and the scientists were still trying to find out why. Thus greenhouses were the method of choice and as long as they were checked upon and well maintained there was not much to do. Well except for taking care of the bugs that served as food for the many predators that were around, but that was Jack's problem, not hers.

Judy flopped onto the bed and grabbed her old datapad.

It was a simple one that she had bought back on earth. But to her it was the most precious thing in the new world since it contained valuable photos and videos of her family and naturally herself and her best friend.

It had become a ritual for her to watch some pictures and videos whenever she finished work early and today was one of these days.

So she leaned back and watched a video from her school days. It was a talent show where she and Nick had performed amateur magic together.

The classic old rabbit sawed in half trick. And even though she had gotten a week of detention for it, she was still proud of her screams and the clever use of ketchup as stage blood. And she was still sure that Mrs Pumpernickl had only been mad that they went for a magic trick instead of dancing or something else. There was no way that the younger students got traumatized by this she thought as she watched the part of clip were the 'blood' was propelled forwards by the saw and sprayed into the audience.

That was still a great effect, even after all these years Judy though with a smile.

She missed Nick so much, she had even brought blueberry seeds with her just so that every generation after her could enjoy his favorite food.

She had yet to plant them though, as the greenhouses were currently necessary to secure a basic income of food.

And blueberries where not the secure food source that their community needed, as a farmer she was sure of that.

Nick would beg to differ, she thought with a giggle, but he wouldn't want to live in a world without blueberries anyways.

Maybe that was the reason why he did not come with her in the first place, she thought for a moment, and she could not help but laugh. The way she knew Nick that might have actually been a real possibility.

But it would not take long until she would be able to plant them so that everyone would be able to enjoy their sweet taste. Water supplies had been secured and once the water was cleaned and then prepared it would enable them to harvest algae which was a secure food source.

Which meant that she would have to watch over giant water tanks as well.

But in turn they would then be able to easily raise fish as well, which would make Katy, the tiger from down the hall that she bumped into every now and then, really happy.

Judy was almost scared up onto her feet when the datapad in her paws suddenly vibrated.

What the hell!?

She stared down onto the offending object which she had dropped into her lap.

It displayed something that could only be a joke.

Message:

From: Nicky

For: Carrots

Open video message?

Her heart was racing, and for a moment she wondered who had the capabilities to pull such a tasteless joke on her. She would most certainly find out and murder this sad individual.

Okay, maybe not murder. If it was Savage then she would lock him into a small room together with a few thousand roaches.

That would teach him.

A stray thought found it's way into her boiling mind.

What if this is real?

But how could it be?

Nick was an eternity away!

Well there was only one way to find out, she thought as she pressed the play video option.

There was a little bit of static before a picture came into focus and it displayed a room that could only be described as a complete and utter mess.

There were machine parts and other things that she could only identify as scrap and half eaten takeout boxes.

But there was not even a trace of her best friend.

She knew it! She had been a fool to hope for anything!

There was no way that she would get a message from...

"YES! IT WORKS!"

Judy almost dropped the datapad once more as Nick triumphantly jumped in front of the camera from what seemed to be behind the camera.

He looked somewhat sick, with his dis shelved fur and the rings under his eyes.

In fact he was looking like sleep had been evading him for days.

"So...uhmm...hey carrots!" Nick spouted out awkwardly.

Yes, definitely no sleep whatsoever for her favorite fox.

"If this really works then you should get this message from me." He smiled into the camera and it made her heart melt but she was not prepared for what he said next.

"You see I used the last four years to create this handy machine." He grabbed the camera and turned it sideways allowing her to see a giant machine. A machine that looked like a lot of scrap thrown together. Before he brought the camera back into it's initial resting position and took center stage.

"It was really hard let me tell you. But now I can finally communicate with you!"

His smile grew even warmer then before,"I mean I can send you messages and you can watch them. I can only imagine how you must feel right now."

It was at this moment that his smile turned into a frown,"I mean if you have been feeling as lonely I have. If not then I guess you are still happy to hear from me, right?"

His sad expression when he considered that she might not have been waiting for a message from him was heartbreaking for her.

And while she had to be honest she had not been waiting, how could she have been?

But she was so happy that this message existed regardless.

Nick's frown slowly turned back into a smile when he said,"but I am sure that you are happy. You are my rabbit after all."

How pretentious Nick, she though with a grin.

Your rabbit?

Yeah that had been true back then, she thought happily.

So why should that change now?

Nick yawned and gave a sigh,"you know carrots, I am feeling so tired right now. Catch ya tomorrow, have sweet dreams."

With this he made his way over to the camera and the video ended.

Which left Judy alone in her room.

Would she really get another video tomorrow?

No, the better question was why would Nick lie to her about this?

The clear answer was that he wouldn't.

Judy's eyes teared up with tears of happiness when she realized that her best friend had spent four years of his life just so that he could make her happy.

And she watched the video at least a dozen times more before she fell asleep without dinner.


Authors Note:

So here is the next installment in the story. We are finally getting into the plot here.
I think there are around two more chapters to go so that is great for me.
And can you imagine I read up on how to plant bluberries and there is a specific type of blueberries which is called Rabbiteye bushes. I wonder if someone has already made a joke/story arc about that. I am sure Judy would tease Nick endlessly that his favorite food comes from Rabbiteye bushes.
Something something...Foxes can't get enough of rabbits even in modern day...something something...happy rabbit noises. (That by the way is how I sophistically plan my dialogue)

At Stubat: Thanks you. Am trying very hart, that I speaks englisch language right. Witch someday is real hard for moi.
All joking aside, thanks for the vote of confidence buddy. I am trying my best to make this resemble proper english as much as I possibly can. Which is hard since english is not my first language.